The Seattle Sounders were named the No. 2 team in the league by MLSsoccer.com in the Week 3 edition of MLS Power Rankings.
Entering the 2022 season, the Sounders were considered favorites to contend for the Supporters' Shield with such a strong returning core. Despite a strong start in the Scotiabank Concacaf Champions League, the Rave Green fell five spots in the Power Rankings to No. 7 after stumbling in league play against Nashville SC and Real Salt Lake. The Sounders' 3-2 win over a LA Galaxy side that entered the match atop the Western Conference saw the team climb back five spots, as the editorial staff at MLSsoccer.com deemed the result a more accurate representation of the team's quality than the two 1-0 losses to open the regular season.
MLSsoccer.com's J. Sam Jones wrote: "After everyone spent a week turning their head at Seattle’s recent record and saying, “Huh, that’s weird,” Seattle did a very Seattle thing by taking that to heart and thumping Club Leon in CCL, then recovering in time to put up three on the Galaxy over the weekend.
"Oh, and they did all this without Raúl Ruidíaz and Nicolás Lodeiro, and while starting 16-year-old Obed Vargas in midfield. Ruidíaz’s replacement, Fredy Montero, scored three times this week and Vargas has been impossibly good for someone who can only just now legally operate a vehicle by himself. I don’t know what else to say except that if I had to pick a CCL favorite at this point, I’d take the Sounders."
